by Carlos Monarrez , USA TODAY Sports

by Carlos Monarrez , USA TODAY Sports

It's anyone's guess whether the Lions will be able to sign defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to a new contract. But one former sports agent and one of Suh's closest friends weighed in on the contract situation and his chances of returning to Detroit next year.

Perhaps fittingly, since so little has been uncomplicated during his past four seasons, the viewpoint was somewhat split on Suh's future in Detroit.

Former agent Joel Corry took the Lions' saying they were tabling contract talks until after the season as a sign that Suh's demands were sky high and that the two sides were too far apart to make a deal happen before the contract voids a few days after the Super Bowl in 2015.

"That indicates to me that Ndamukong Suh was probably asking to be the highest-paid defensive player, and the Lions don't want to touch that number right now," said Corry, a contributor for CBS Sports and the National Football Post. "Otherwise, there'd probably be a deal done. That's what it signals to me."

But how realistic would it be for Suh to get the NFL's biggest contract for a defensive player? He would have to surpass the six-year, $96-million contract the Buffalo Bills gave defense end Mario Williams in 2012.

"That's a tall order," Corry said, "particularly for an interior defensive lineman, because normally you're going to pay a defensive lineman that has the potential to generate sacks. That's what Mario Williams is being paid for. Most interior defensive linemen aren't consistent double-digit sack guys, so it may be a little ambitions."

But Corry used the word "potential," and retired defensive end Lawrence Jackson knows something about that. He played for the Lions in 2010-12 and became one of Suh's closest friends on the team. Jackson played five seasons in the NFL and learned the league values larger-than life players like Suh.

"If you've gone to a game in the last four years, you walk away with that in your mind, like you experienced that," Jackson said. "There's not a lot of players that do that. As a defensive lineman, he brings to the table what somebody like Johnny Manziel brings to a team in terms of that wow factor or that potential excitement. You have to pay for that.

"In the NFL, they pay for potential. And potentially, you have a guy that can destroy anybody in front of him any time he wants to. I'd pay for it."

Jackson also learned how the Lions and general manager Martin Mayhew can be tough negotiators. Really tough.

"I think they do a reasonably good job with the contracts from a player's perspective, if they like you," Jackson said. "If you're a guy they want around, they're going to take care of you.

"I would say they're close to fair. But I think they have a shrewd business approach, we'll call it."

Jackson also called the Lions' approach "prudent," which seems good for business and a little hard to fault - unless you're a player.

"It's good for business, if you're Bill (Ford) Jr.," Jackson said. "But from a player perspective, you want to get as much money as you can, and some teams play hardball. And some teams play hardball harder than others. Mayhew's a guy, he's gonna take you to the wire."

Ultimately, that's what Suh's contract negotiations with any team might come down to: the wire, and the tough balancing act upon it that will require fulfilling Suh's needs, including pursuits outside of football.

"A decision ultimately is going to have to come down to what makes him happy," Jackson said. "He's in a good situation with football. But it's a total picture thing. It's going to be the best situation for him. But I love Detroit, I know he has deep love for Detroit. It's just going to come down to business."

One tactic the Lions might want to avoid is waiting for a similar player in his contract year, like Tampa Bay's Gerald McCoy, to sign a contract and set the market price for defensive tackles and, it is hoped, lower the price for Suh.

"And that doesn't always work," Corry said, "because sometimes players, and I had a couple players that took this position, that you had me for the last so many years, you know what I can do, you know my value. If you can't figure out what I'm worth to you, once I get on the open market I'll give you a courtesy call to let you know where I'm going before it becomes public knowledge. But you're not getting an informal right to match.

"If Suh takes that approach, this is a 16-game farewell tour/audition for his next contract elsewhere."

After weighing what he knows about his friend and how the Lions negotiate, Jackson thinks the Lions ultimately will give Suh the biggest contract in NFL history for a defensive player.

"I think he deserves to be paid as one of the best defensive players in the game, because he is," Jackson said. "It's not necessarily that he's a flashy player like a J.J. Watt who makes spectacular plays. It's that Ndamukong does the everyday, dirty, nasty, gritty work that nobody wants to do with such grace and class.

"And he creates so much calamity on the offensive line, you need that. And if he's teamed with the right people, I feel he can be the most dominant interior player in the game and one of the best defensive linemen, period."

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